Inside the breathtaking George Peabody Library in Baltimore, Maryland is an atrium that holds a “Cathedral of Books”. Formerly the Library of the Peabody Institute of the City of Baltimore which was founded in 1857, the same year that a Massachusetts-born philanthropist George Peabody dedicated the Peabody Institute to the citizens of Baltimore for public use.

The Community Bookself is an intriguing piece of architecture at the Public Library in Kansas City, Missouri resembling a book shelf. This striking façade, which runs along the south wall of the Central Library, features book spines measuring 25 feet by 9 feet, and showcases 22 titles reflecting a wide variety of reading interests suggested by readers.